BLCU General Discussion

[Cat Jones]

akire - when I went to BLCU I didn't pay until arrival, as I didn't need accomodation either. Many people don't pay until registration day.

idamse - there are a lot of students at BLCU who take their studies very seriously, but still find the time to relax. There are a few who are just there to party, but I would say that they are in the minority.

The gym at the school is pretty good, but it's quite expensive from what I remember. Also access to the swimming pool is not included - you have to pay extra for that. There are loads of gyms in the area so you might be able to find a cheaper deal at another gym. A warning about most gyms in Wudaokou (including the BLCU one) is that they NEVER switch on the aircon when it's hot. They just open the windows. So excess summer heat & Beijing pollution pouring in through the open windows makes for a terrible workout! I decided not to join a gym in the end.

Dorm 7 is known as the best dorm on campus. I don't know about the others.

[idamse]

Thanks Cat Jones!

Too bad that the gym isn´t too good. I was hoping I could find a place where I didn´t need to worry about the pollution...

[Cat Jones]

It's hard to avoid the pollution I'm afraid. If you do any outdoor sports, you would be advised to buy a quality mask with an air filter.

[idamse]

Alright, thanks. Then I think I will find myself a lot in the pool for a year ;-)

[MoKangWei]

Well, I'll apply to the csc this year and I hope to get to BLCU, I've read on their website you must have at least the hsk 3 if you want to start the bachelor in Chinese, as I am willing to do, I'll take the test to level four in april, but I won't be able to get it in time to send via csc, so I think I'll just show it later or just take chinese classes there one year before starting the bachelor classes.

Actually I already have a bachelor degree in my country, but I want to study Chinese so, I guess it's better to start from bachelor.

[m21]

HI, I am planning to apply to BLCU for short term course, sept16 -jan 17. i have a few qs

1) when do i have to reach BLCU (as in the reporting time) and when am i expected to leave China? cuz the course is 4 months, but i keep hearing some people talk abt staying 6 months in BLCU. which course is that?

2) Does the BLCU scholarship include any monthly allowance or does it only cover the tuition?

3) What are the job opportunities for student studying under scholarship in china? will be allowed to work these 4 months?

[simpleasy]

Has anyone done a 4-week summer program at BLCU? Although I've been studying for about 2 years now, I'm still very much a beginner, is it worth it then?

[faoiseamh]

I'm looking to do a six week program this summer. Has anyone done a shorter course?

[MoKangWei]

Just got accepted for the Bachelor Degree Course... I also applied for the CSC scholarship, but still I don't know if I'll get it... Does anybody know if it's too hard to get a job that pays enough for fees, dorm and all the basic living needs?

[bailing]

STUDYING AT EBLCU: MASTER FOR TEACHING CHINESE

HI! Has anybody studied at BLCU through distance learning?

I have seen they deliver an online Master in Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages: anybody willing to share impressions and opinions? Thanks.

http://chinese.eblcu...degreemain.jspr

• Master of Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages (MTCSOL)
  

[金妙漪]

I studied at BLCU for a four-week course before starting a semester at BNU and I would say it was definitely "worth it". My professors were generally helpful and experienced and I made a lot of friends in my classes. I will say that if you think you should be in a different level than the one you've tested into, definitely say something so you can switch out before it's too late. Wudaokou is fun for obvious reasons, even if it's not "authentically" Chinese, and is also a really excellent place to meet other foreigners and Chinese people and practice your language skillls! (met my Chinese boyfriend in Wu, heh). But if you're anything like me the temptation to go out every night will overwhelm after a while; I had to have a stern talk with myself and review my priorities after missing a few classes due to late nights, so that might be something to be wary of! Bottom line: I improved my Chinese, made good friends, and had a lot of fun in my month at BLCU; you probably will too!

[roddy]

金妙漪, if you could write up something about your time at BNU here:

http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/35792-beijing-normal-university/

That would be hugely appreciated by future generations of BNU students. And thanks for your contributions on BLCU.

[Haruka]

Hi, this forum has been very informative and helpful, thank you!

I am currently a freshman Ina Japanese university in Tokyo, and I plan to study at BLCU for the 4week program from this August.

Is anyone taking the 4week short term program this August??

My parents are Chinese, but I was born and raised in Japan, so I would be a huaqiao, or huaren, and my Chinese level is about 5or 6 of the new HSK.

I am thinking of taking the newspaper reading course, but I m confused about the classes and levels they offer. Will there be one for me?

And since I am there to learn Chinese, I would like to make friends of many countries with the same goal of studio Chinese.

Would anyone be able to tell me the nationalities in advanced classes?

The accommodation is also confusing..I prefer to share a room, is it possible?

Thanks!

Haruka

[金妙漪]

Hi Haruka!

There should be a newspaper reading course for your level. Newspaper reading is a more advanced skill and is usually incorporated into higher level coursework. I'm not 100% positive about that but there are people who you can email to help you like zhaosh2@blcu.edu.cn

As for the nationalities of the students who will be in your class, you won't know until after the placement test! There are students from all over the world who go to school at BLCU and no classroom is the same twice. In my own experience my classmates were about a third Westerners and two thirds Easterners, with a majority of Japanese students. This may not be the case in your classroom but there's no way to predict! At the advanced level I think it is safe to assume that most of your classmates will be eager to study Chinese and to make friends with the same goal.

You can definitely share a room with another student, that is what the majority of students do. If I remember correctly you will register for housing after arriving on campus.

Best of Luck!

[Haruka]

Thank you 金妙漪 for the helpful information!

I will try to email BLCU for more info!!

Thank you very much

[bookworm88]

Hi 金妙漪,

I'm looking at either BLCU or BNU for studying a semester in March 2014. I desperately need the comparison between the two schools and your experience there! Just for the background information, I'm about HSK 4 level in Chinese, and I've been studying Chinese for four years. What are some pros and cons of each school? How are classes, how strict are the classes relative to each other, and just purely, your opinion on each school.

Thanks so much!

Hope to hear from you

[金妙漪]

Hi bookworm88,

Pros and cons is really vague, haha. So yeah, I'll just give you my opinion. If/when I go back to Beijing for study, I will go back to BNU (if they still want me). For me, personally, BNU was a lot more structured and more centered on academia than BLCU. But also, it's important to remember that I was only at BLCU for a month and that month was August so everybody and their mother was at BLCU/in Wudaokou and I think it was generally a more hectic time so I definitely do not feel my experience is exactly holistic. Also I had just moved to Beijing when I was studying there and didn't know the city as well and that might have something to do with it. If I had stayed longer at BLCU I would probably have more to say about the academics there but really, 4 weeks is not long enough to make much of a judgement.

As I've said before, one of the main reasons I really like BNU is the location. It's not right in Wudaokou like BLCU is and therefore not an easy walk to the bar and not filled to the brim with foreigners who may or may not have serious designs about learning Chinese. I think that's basically the main thing I can think of of why I wouldn't go back to BLCU; there's nothing wrong with it, it's just different and I prefer BNU.

I think what you mean by 'strict' is what's required of you in class and what the expectations are for homework and quizzes and stuff? At both universities none of my professors were very 'strict'. It's all what you put into it. If you don't do your homework and don't study for quizzes no one is going to send you to detention or anything like that, you'll just fail your homework and fail your quizzes and fail the class and not learn anything and your classmates will point at you and laugh because you're the noob who went to China and didn't take advantage of the opportunity. So I guess you just need to be strict with yourself; you're your own responsibility.

If you have any more-specific questions, please don't hesitate to ask and I'll get back to you as soon as I am reasonably able.

*and sorry to the mod, this post is not "BLCU general discussion" material. Should it go somewhere else?*

[roddy]

It's tricky - I try to avoid 'compare X with Y' university topics as a) it's pretty rare for anyone to go to more than one university, and even rarer for that pair of universities to be the same two being considered by anyone else, and b) theoretically we'd end up with info scattered across thousands of topics. For preference, put the BLCU info in the BLCU topic, the BNU info in the BNU topic, and let the readers themselves figure it out. But if you're giving useful info, we're not going to complain too hard about where you choose to put it.

[金妙漪]

Duly noted

[bookworm88]

Hi, Thanks so much for your response. It was really helpful to hear a more subjective opinion. To the mod: Yes, I get that I would have to decide at the end which school I am going to. But I know that these people also went through a similar thought process in deciding which school to go. I'm just asking why they chose to go to that specific school, not the other famous ones in Beijing. And I thought that would help me more than answers that are just about one school, because it's hard to objectively compare with that information. // (my enter doesn't work right now, sorry) 金妙漪, since my question is about BNU, I won't post it here!